Transportation

University Avenue Reconstruction

Transportation

Background

University Avenue is a high profile and strategically significant commercial corridor to the City of Cedar Falls and the surrounding region. The city asked Foth to develop a concept for the design of University Avenue that delivered on the city’s project vision statement of “A transportation plan that calms traffic, lessens travel time, improves safety, is compatible with the existing network, supports a “living street,” lowers up front capital investment and operational costs and enhances commercial access.”

In order to begin construction in 2016, the final design was fast-tracked creating a compressed design schedule. Foth’s track record of delivering complex urban roadway projects, including the design of modern roundabouts, and our strong public education approach were key differentiators to delivering a complex project design, while maintaining the aggressive project schedule.

Approach

The Foth project team developed multiple options as part of the project responsibilities. These options included a road diet, complete street elements, a single-point urban interchange, a teardrop interchange, multi-lane modern roundabouts, coordinated signals, and a variety of conceptual geometric configurations. Foth led extensive public outreach and educational plan activities to gather input from stakeholders and assist the project team in developing the conceptual design. Additionally, Foth provided funding application assistance for Federal TIGER Grant funding and State Traffic Safety Improvement Program (TSIP) funding.

Results

Once constructed, the two mile long project will be the largest roadway project ever undertaken by the City of Cedar Falls. The completed project will include multi-lane roundabouts, public and private utility coordination and significant public education services. These improvements will deliver over $36,000,000 in user costs savings over the next 25 years through improvements to the corridor’s safety, travel time, fuel use, emissions reductions, maintenance costs, traffic operations, and pedestrian and transit facility efficiencies. For more information: www.cedarfalls-universityaveproject.com